China on Tuesday listed out the four-point proposal given by President Xi Jinping for lasting peace in the Middle East.
The United States and Iran, with regional mediators, are reportedly discussing a potential 45-day ceasefire to prevent further escalation of conflict, including strikes on Iranian infrastructure and retaliation against Gulf states' facilities.
Trump has made it clear: the US will not lift its blockade of Iranian ports until a deal is signed.
Iran was the chance to arrange a concert of nations, to actually be a Vishwaguru. Instead, we are watching from the sidelines as Pakistan, the same country that is apparently still at war with Afghanistan, hosts talks between US-Israel and Iran. The irony is hard to miss, points out Amberish K Diwanji.
Both sides have now revealed a preference for escalation over strategic defeat, and each new provocation narrows the space for the next pause. The Touska seizure, Iran's refusal to negotiate under blockade, Israel's strikes on Iranian oil infrastructure -- all of these add up to an increasingly untenable situation. This makes the wild card -- Trump and his motormouth -- more consequential than ever, notes Prem Panicker in his must read blog on the Iran War.
Karex, the Malaysian company that makes roughly one in five of the world's condoms -- about five billion a year, supplying Durex and Trojan among others -- announced this week that it is raising prices by up to 30 percent. The reason is the Strait of Hormuz.
The Americans can occupy Bab el Mandeb, claim to have 'solved' the Strait of Hormuz crisis, declare victory that President Trump so desperately needs, points out Colonel Anil A Athale, former head of the history division, ministry of defence.
AFC relocates four postponed Asian Champions League Elite last-16 ties to Jeddah as single-leg matches amid Middle East tensions.
The question is whether the clocks allow enough time for two deeply mistrustful sides to get there, and whether the surface calm holds long enough for the paddling to produce something before the ceasefire ends on April 22, notes Prem Panicker in his must read blog on the Iran War.
Trump seems to have estimated that Ghalibaf is a pragmatic politician who is receptive to close relations with the US and is enthusiastic about fostering business and economic ties in particular, points out Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
Amidst escalating tensions in West Asia, Russian President Vladimir Putin is actively calling for de-escalation and political resolution, engaging with Iranian and US counterparts to navigate the complex conflict landscape.
'The next two to three weeks will not be decided in Washington.' 'They will be decided in Tehran, in whatever calculation Iran makes about the costs of continued resistance against the costs of appearing to have yielded.'
Economist Jeffrey Sachs saw Gulf nations' decision to partner with the US through the Abraham Accords as an "invitation for disaster" as it made them more dependent on American protection.
The United States is facing growing discontent from its Gulf allies after several countries in the region complained that they were not given advance notice of the US-Israel strike on Iran that triggered widespread retaliatory attacks, according to media reports.
Hundreds of Formula One team personnel are stranded in Bahrain after airspace closures triggered by Middle East conflict, but Australian GP chief Travis Auld says Melbourne's season-opener will not be affected.
Australian Grand Prix chief executive Travis Auld anticipates no impact on this weekend's Formula One season-opener at Melbourne's Albert Park from the travel issues caused by the conflict in the Middle East.
The core issues to be settled -- access to Hormuz, Israel's aggression in Lebanon, the question of Iran's nuclear programme, sanctions relief and compensation -- are thorny enough to require weeks of patient negotiation. The most likely outcome of the opening sessions is that both sides take the measure of each other, establish what is and is not negotiable, and return home without having broken anything. That would count as progress.
Russia has expressed strong concern over a US-Israeli strike on the Iranian port of Bandar Anzali, a key transit hub on the INSTC, warning of the risk of drawing Caspian states into the ongoing conflict.
'What we have yet to see on either the US or the Iranian side is willingness to compromise on their ultimate demands and the flexibility to reach an agreement to end the war.
Mojtaba Khamenei, 56, has been chosen to assume control of the country.
Paris Saint-Germain president Nasser Al-Khelaifi has been stranded in Qatar for over a week due to the ongoing conflict in the Middle East, impacting flights and travel across the region.
The purge in Washington does not pause the war. Strikes continue, Hormuz remains closed, and Brent crude is still dancing around $109 a barrel. For India, the command chaos in the Pentagon is another layer of uncertainty piled on five weeks of conflict that was already straining every buffer Delhi has.
Iraq's participation in the inter-confederation play-offs in Mexico that will decide two berths at this year's FIFA World Cup is in doubt because of the travel chaos triggered by the conflict in neighbouring Iran.
'Was the five-day pause ever meant to hold, or was it simply another instrument of signaling, of positioning, of buying time in a war where even the pauses are tactical?' asks Prem Panicker in his must read daily blog on the Gulf War.
A senior Pakistani official has affirmed Pakistan's commitment to supporting Saudi Arabia, even before assistance is explicitly requested, amidst ongoing conflict in West Asia. This pledge underscores the close ties between the two nations and Pakistan's role in regional stability.
US President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin discussed the Iran conflict and its impact on global energy supplies during a phone call.
Congress leader Shashi Tharoor is urging the Indian government to take a more proactive role in mediating the escalating conflict between the US-Israel alliance and Iran, emphasising the impact on India's energy security and regional stability.
India's handling of the Iran crisis reflects a growing strain between strategic autonomy and geopolitical alignment, observes Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
Pakistan's Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif contacted Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman to express solidarity amidst escalating regional tensions following attacks in Iran and the Gulf region.
When missiles fly in this region, they are never just aimed at military targets.
A joint attack by the United States and Israel on Iran has triggered a massive military confrontation in the Middle-East.
Russian President Vladimir Putin is actively working to de-escalate the escalating crisis in the Gulf, engaging with regional leaders following Iran's retaliatory strikes on US facilities after joint US-Israeli strikes against Iran.
Dozens of Indian-flagged ships and over a thousand seafarers are stranded in the Persian Gulf, Gulf of Oman, and surrounding areas due to the closure of the Strait of Hormuz amidst ongoing military actions involving the US, Israel, and Iran.
The United States, which entered this war in expectation of a short, sharp win along the Venezuela model, is now preparing for deeper involvement in a conflict it does not fully control, without the allies it typically relies on, against an adversary that is not behaving as expected, in a global environment that is already absorbing economic shock. Prem Panicker continues his must read daily blog on the Gulf War.
The IRGC said the barrage targeted several US military facilities in the region, including bases at Sheikh Isa in Bahrain, Juffair in Bahrain, Ali al-Salem in Kuwait and Al Azraq in Jordan.
The UN Security Council, with India's support, has adopted a resolution condemning Iran's attacks on Gulf Cooperation Council countries and Jordan, demanding an immediate cessation of hostilities and denouncing threats to the Strait of Hormuz.
To be sure, Trump is furious, as the trajectory of the war is in a state of Zugzwang, as chess players call it. Trump and Netanyahu stare at two choices -- retreat in humiliation and concede Tehran's demands -- recognition of its rights, reparations, and binding security guarantees -- or perish in a quagmire, points out Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
The pause gives the US time to breathe, to regroup, to move its expeditionary force into position without risk of interception along the way. It gives Iran nothing -- on the ground, attacks against its infrastructure continue apace. Prem Panicker in his must read daily blog on the Gulf War.
The question is no longer whether the war will expand. It has. The next few days will tell us whether the war stabilises around Hormuz or whether the Strait itself becomes the trigger for a far larger rupture. What to watch for over the next 48 hours is simple: Any move by the US toward direct naval control of the Strait; any credible Iranian attempt to disrupt or mine shipping lanes and, critically, whether energy infrastructure in the Gulf continues to be targeted.If those lines are crossed in tandem, the war will no longer be containable within the region.
'No civilian deserves to live in fear. No civilian deserves to be caught up in a war which is destabilising the entire region.'
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